32-bit ARM7 gaming rig

Are you hardcore enough to build your own 32-bit ARM powered gaming console AND use point-to-point soldering to accomplish this? [Craig Bishop] did just that when building his GameSphere console project. First thing’s first, click through the jump and watch the game play video. He wrote that game in the C language in less than a day which in itself is quite remarkable. On the hardware side of things he’s got an interesting mix; an Ateml AT91R40008 chip drives this system with PIC 18F4682 for VGA signal generation and a PIC 18F2685 to interface with the N64 controller. We like what he’s done so far and would love to see this end up in its own game cabinet.

I think everyone should get good at p2p wiring, 1 its really not that hard, and its probably the quickest way for 1 off products, But also then we wont have to read a hack a day editor say “well gee whiz, this guy soldered a wire to protoboard, is he InSaNe!?”

@ Pilotgeek: I actually plan on replacing the dual-port with two SRAMs and some bus switches in the next revision. The dual-ports cost around 50$ a-piece! (I got this one as a free sample) The bus switches should be just as fast with the same effect.

@ osgeld: I agree about point-to-point soldering. I must say, you are insane to solder anything without a decent temperature controlled station. My station iron’s tip went out during the project, and while I waited for the new one to ship I was using a radioshack wood-burner. That sucked major time.

@ Merlin00: Your cellphone probably has an ARM7 or ARM9 based processor in it too! I have not gotten around to writing a software 3D rasterizer, but I imagine it will be possible on this hardware. I’ll have to order that 100Mhz clock and dig out Andre Lamothe’s book on the subject :)

@Alpha: I love my Jerker desk! It’s too bad they discontinued it! I’m moving to a new apartment next year starting college, and I wanted to buy another for my other computers and gear, but alas, no more Jerker… :(

“My station iron’s tip went out during the project, and while I waited for the new one to ship I was using a radioshack wood-burner. That sucked major time.”

lol, I always said that the firestarters worked fine, until they get hot!

course meaning that the whole 15 or so min that they are in a good temperature range is fine, but after 30min to an hour they were so hot the flux boiled off instantly and the solder would stick nowhere else but the iron tip … but that is much more to type and not nearly as funny

Wow! Excellent job and very inspiring. One suggestion: switch to a Gamecube controller; it uses almost identical hardware and protocol, but the layout and capabilities are much better, IMO… unless you prefer the N64’s ergonomics (which is doubtful, but to each his own…) Either way, keep up the good work! Can’t wait to see how she handles with that 100MHz upgrade and some sound hardware.

A pic and atmel in the same project this must be a sign of the apocalypse!!!! LOL

I don’t know why people don’t do point to point wiring more often, i use protoboards a lot. Although i’m working on a cnc mill to make pcb’s.

From what i’ve seen, i have some pretty good soldering skills, i have seen some awful soldering both online and in real life. I find that using very small diameter solder and a narrow tip iron helps to give better control and not blob up to badly, then i go back and re-melt each connection to make sure their are no cold soldered joints.

“The third time you do something in code, turn it into a subroutine.”
The third time you want to replicate a circuit, do a PCB.

Otherwise for a one-off this direct method skips right over the need to do a PCB layout and produce the PCB. You still need to diddle your chips around to maximise connection directitude, but Dab-board and fine single-strand wire-wrap wire, small curved suture clamps, and a fine tip iron works for me. Gear with corroded or damaged tracks can be repaired the same way.

if you’re still interested in developing the project, now that you have a working prototype you could learn Eagle and make some custom PCB’s? It’s a lot easier than it sounds, and potentially not too expensive if the board isn’t that big if you use batchpcb or goldphoenix.